Mets Activate Frankie Montas for 2025 Season Debut Versus Braves
At long last, Frankie Montas is back in the majors.
The 32-year-old starter will make his season debut on Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves after being activated from the 60-day injured list prior to first pitch. He opened this season on the IL after suffering a strained right lat during spring training.
In corresponding moves, the team transferred outfielder Jesse Winker (oblique strain) to the 60-day IL and optioned right-hander Chris Devenski to Triple-A Syracuse to make room for Montas.
Prior to his activation, the veteran righty made six rehab starts, four at Triple-A and the other two at High-A. However, the results weren’t kind to the rehabbing hurler, as he struggled to a 12.05 ERA and 9.76 FIP with 12 strikeouts and 10 walks over 18.2 innings.
The results aren’t important, though, at least not compared to being 100 percent recovered.
“It wasn’t how I wanted it to [go],” Montas told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo earlier this week. “But health-wise, it’s been pretty good, and to be honest, I feel like I’m ready to go out there and compete.”
When Montas takes the mound at Citi Field on Tuesday, it’ll mark his first big-league start since September 27th, 2024. He was wearing a different jersey back then, pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers, who acquired him via trade from the Cincinnati Reds.
In 30 starts split between the Brewers and Reds, he pitched to a 4.84 ERA and 4.71 FIP, recording 148 strikeouts – the most of his career since 2022 – and 66 walks.
“He was pretty nasty the way the ball was coming out, the way he was using all of his pitches — and I’ve seen him pitch for a lot of years at this level and have success,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “So the expectation is to go out there, compete and give us a chance to win a baseball game every time he takes the ball, starting [Tuesday].”
The decision to have Montas make his return against the Braves comes more as a necessity than a preference, considering the Mets are running thin on healthy starters with Tylor Megill (elbow sprain) hitting the 15-day IL last week – joining Kodai Senga (hamstring strain) and Sean Manaea (oblique strain), who hasn’t pitched all season.
In a perfect world, the team would’ve likely created a softer landing spot for the fully recovered hurler. But with few alternatives available, he’ll be tested versus a lineup headlined by Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna.
As much as the Mets aren’t expecting a dominant performance from Montas, they could certainly use a respectable outing – one that gives them a chance to win – after dropping nine of their last 10 games heading into Tuesday’s matchup.
Due to their recent skid, New York no longer controls top spot in the NL East, sitting 1.5 games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies – who’ve been surging of late, winning eight of their previous 10.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: YESNetwork. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.